2 killed, 14 soldiers injured in S. Afghan blast

One army soldier and an assailant were killed and 14 soldiers wounded when a suicide car bomb struck an army convoy near a police station in Lashkar Gah, capital of southern province of Helmand on Wednesday, a local official said.

"The blast occurred near 505 Bost Police Zone in Lashkar Gah at around midday when an army convoy was passing by the area," the source told Xinhua anonymously.

The army convoy was moving for a military operation on outskirts of the city, he said, adding that more details would be made public later as an investigation was underway.

The injured were shifted by army personnel to nearby hospitals.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack yet.

The Taliban insurgency has been on the rampage since the beginning of 2015 when the Afghan security forces assumed full responsibilities of security from the U.S. and NATO troops.

Helmand, notorious for poppy growing, is also a known Taliban stronghold.